Hollywood actors Kurtwood Smith and Omar Epps visit Manila

BY RHEA MANILA SANTOS

On the third stop of the Asian leg of their promo tour for their new fantasy mystery series Resurrection, Hollywood stars Kurtwood Smith and Omar Epps dropped by Manila after visiting Malaysia and Singapore. Epps, who has played roles in popular US series like ER and House, admitted he is excited to promote his new series since it was also his first time in the Philippines.

The show has Epps playing the role of an immigration agent named Bellamy who escorts an eight-year-old American boy back to the US after he suddenly appears in a Chinese province with no idea how he got there. Upon their arrival in the town of Arcadia, he discovers that the boy Jacob died over 30 years ago. “He's a US Federal agent, Immigration and Customs enforcer and we have this young boy who pops up in China with no papers so they extradite him back to the US. My character is supposed to take him to human services, that's it. My character sorts of forms a bond with this kid. I bring him back to his parents and they say their son died 32 years ago and that’s how everybody’s lives changes,” he shared.

Epps said dealing with the issue of resurrecting the dead made him think a lot about life. “For me it didn’t necessarily change my philosophy. If anything it made me dig deeper. We have so many questions and I think as you go through life, the more questions you have, things just grow and change. Your beliefs change based on what you experience in life,” he explained.

The 40-year-old New York-based actor said he is proud to be part of such a good production. “Resurrection at the heart of it is really a family drama. It’s dealing with this really high concept about dead people returning but it’s really about what would ordinary people do under extraordinary circumstances. That’s really what the crux of the show is all about,” he said.

Resurrection co-star Kurtwood Smith, who was part of popular US series 24 and That ‘70s Show plays the role of Henry Langston, father of Jacob. The veteran actor said that after playing countless roles on TV and in the big screen, he was intrigued by his new character. “He’s grey, he’s not here nor there. He’s just here. The idea just really blew me away, the real connective tissue between all of us on this earth is really life and death. It’s not our class. The only thing we are all experiencing is life. So through me this idea that big what if we deal with that loss, personally we all have our own experience with that. To be on a show that sets a platform for us all to explore these notions in a way and sort of live vicariously through these characters was really exciting for me,” he admitted.

Smith admitted he already had his share of some memorable moments during the first shooting days. “One of my favorite experiences when we were doing the pilot in Georgia and normally in Georgia, especially during the summer, it’s not quite as warm as it is here but it was pretty warm and we were shooting in spring time in the end of April and standing there by the river, a nice and intense little scene and then it snows out there (laughs). It snows and it was freezing cold. I was outside in this flimsy shirt and was supposed to act like it was summer while shivering,” he said.

Just like Epps, Smith said it was the character that drew him to the project. “I was invested in the character. He’s such a complex and interesting guy, such a regular person and yet dealing with a very, very complex situation and a complex life,” he added.

Watch Kurtwood Smith and Omar Epps in Resurrection in the Lifetime Channel on SkyCable.